José F. Valdés-Galicia

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Mexico

José F. Valdés-Galicia obtained his B.S. degree from the Faculty of Sciences of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); his Ph.D. degree was earned from Imperial College of Science and Technology of the University of London, UK. He serves as a Principal Investigator of the cosmic ray detectors in Mexico City and the Sierra Negra Volcano at 4600 m a.s.l. He is a Member of the Auger and HAWC international collaborations. In the first of these, he acted as the Task Leader for education and public outreach and as a Member of the publications committee. He authored two popular science books and numerous papers in popular science magazines. In 1999-2000, he was appointed as the Program Research Director for Earth Sciences in CONACyT, the Mexican national science funding agency. He acted as the Founder and President of the Latinamerican Space Geophysics Association (ALAGE), a Vice President of the Cosmic Ray Commission of IUPAP, and a President of the NOC of the 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference in Mérida, México. As integrant of the Mexican National Research System, he has obtained the highest level since 2004. He was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Geophysics of UNAM in 2005-2009 and 2009-2013.